I’m wrestling with evil. Not literally – my soul is fine, thank you. But in my work. I find it difficult to create believable evil characters. When I try to touch evil, I fall into caricature. Ugh.
It’s only recently that I’ve recognized that my “bad guys” are lacking evil. So I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes a person or an act evil.
Today, I’ve been listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR. The subject was Michael Vick. The guest was making a persuasive argument for Vick’s rehabilitation. But it was missing a key element in the way it defined Vick’s crimes.
I have heard people argue that men can beat their wives and girlfriends and suffer less hatred than Vick has. I have heard people, like this guest, say that murderers are more easily forgiven. I say yes to both, and I’m okay with that.
Here’s why. I am a dog lover, but I am offended when a woman is compared to a dog. No, what Michael Vick did was akin to killing a child. Dogs and children are helpless; we are their masters, their caretakers. It is particularly heinous to kill that which looks to you as God.
That is evil. I don’t know if Michael Vick is reformed or not. I cannot see into his heart. But his actions were motivated by a different kind of evil than that which propels a person to kill another person who is an equal.
I agree. The people who intentionally hurt animals are the ones who scare me the most.
ReplyDeleteI believe people have confused Vick's rehabilitation with his successful return to the NFL. I seriously doubt as many people would agree he is now a better person if he was not leading his team to victories.
ReplyDeleteHe killed dogs. He facilitated the gross mistreatment and horrific killing of dogs. In my opinion, he will not even begin his rehabilitation until he is able to apologize for the dogs he killed and mistreated rather than apologizing just to his fans, teammates, employers and family.
I've been struggling with the Vick "rehab" story as well. It would be more believable to me if he'd VOLUNTARILY donate time and $$ to dog rescue and rehab organizations.
ReplyDeleteHere, here, Foust. I've heard Vick speak and he sounds great. He sure can throw a heck of a football and run like the dickens. I wish everyone could agree on where he started - killing dogs with your own hands is a whole different kind of bad.
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